Three Violent People could have been little more than an standard western about post-Civil War Texans struggling against thuggish carpetbaggers trying to take their land away -- not the commonest western plot, but we could call it "Plot Eleven". Had already been done a number of times by this movie's 1956 release, perhaps best in an unpretentious 1947 Wild Bill Elliot opus. An excellent cast headed by stalwart Carlton Heston, beautiful Anne Baxter, and the always interesting Gilbert Roland would have raised Three Violent People a cut above the average oater, even if it had been filmed in black & white or standard screen color, and it would have been an entertaining and enjoyable watch. What really made it quite a lot more than just a standard western with an overpriced staff was the gorgeous Technicolor Vista Vision cinematography.
When the wide-screen craze hit in the mid-fifties, there soon were a number of competing processes, including Cinemascope, Superscope, Metroscope, 1.66:1 flat, and 1.85:1 flat. Vista Vision, pioneered by Paramount Studios, was by far the most aesthetically successful of any. Cinemascope and the later, more successful Panavision used a wide-angle lens on the camera to compress the picture into a standard 35mm frame, then a reverse lens on the projector expanded the picture so that it was 75 percent wider than the old standard 4:3 ratio screen. The "flat" widescreen processes filmed with an ordinary camera lens on standard 35 mm film but with the camera far enough back that the resulting picture could be masked at the top and the bottom to create the wide-screen effect. The problem with all of these was that the blown-up picture when projected on a large screen lost resolution, contrast, and sharpness. The loss of quality was compounded by the new less-flammable, but somewhat grainier and less transparent film with which the studios had recently replaced the old crystal-clear nitrate film, which had given us all of those beautiful, luminous black & white movies of the late 1930's and 1940's. The difference was noticeable even in Technicolor films, but it had been a minor effect until the wide-screen movies.
Vista Vision was filmed with a special camera with vertical sprockets which ran the film thru sideways, creating a negative three times the area of the 35 mm print, which was masked and blown-up to widescreen with a projector aperture. The result was incredibly high resolution, sharpness, richness of color, and illusion of depth, even when projected on the largest screens.
The cinematography with this wonderful and expensive process as exhibited in Three Violent people is absolutely breathtaking. It makes this movie a sensuous pleasure to watch. The clarity, color, and added sense of depth that comes through even on a wide-screen digital TV delivers an almost 3-D effect. The effect was just as strong in the indoor lamplight scenes as in the expansive views of the photogenic Arizona landscape (thinly disguised as the Texas Hill Country).
Three Violent People had an intelligent if not inspired script. The dialog likewise was good, though melodramatic at times. Gilbert Roland's excesses of poetry got irritating at times. It fit with his colorful character, but could have been toned down a bit. Rudolph Mate's direction was surprisingly slow-paced, especially from one who had turned out a classic thriller like DOA. It was slow-moving in the first half, but not boring because of the strong acting and solid story development. But it really picked up after Heston discovered his wife was a shady lady, and she and his brother absconded with his valuable herd of horses. There was more melodrama than action in this one, but the action was well-staged. The runaway wagon in a stampede of horses is a western cliché, but it was much better than average executed here. Also very good was the climactic shootout with the Texas ranchers using volleys from single-shot rifles to send the Yankee baddies into headlong retreat. The sets, both inside and outside were very authentic looking. Likewise, the clothes, the rifles, revolvers, and gun leather were all unusually accurate to the late 1860's era.
Overall Three Violent People was a satisfying western on every level, but most of all was simply a pleasure to watch because of the stunning Vista Vision cinematography.
(Other Vista Vision Westerns: The Searchers, Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, One-Eyed Jacks)
When the wide-screen craze hit in the mid-fifties, there soon were a number of competing processes, including Cinemascope, Superscope, Metroscope, 1.66:1 flat, and 1.85:1 flat. Vista Vision, pioneered by Paramount Studios, was by far the most aesthetically successful of any. Cinemascope and the later, more successful Panavision used a wide-angle lens on the camera to compress the picture into a standard 35mm frame, then a reverse lens on the projector expanded the picture so that it was 75 percent wider than the old standard 4:3 ratio screen. The "flat" widescreen processes filmed with an ordinary camera lens on standard 35 mm film but with the camera far enough back that the resulting picture could be masked at the top and the bottom to create the wide-screen effect. The problem with all of these was that the blown-up picture when projected on a large screen lost resolution, contrast, and sharpness. The loss of quality was compounded by the new less-flammable, but somewhat grainier and less transparent film with which the studios had recently replaced the old crystal-clear nitrate film, which had given us all of those beautiful, luminous black & white movies of the late 1930's and 1940's. The difference was noticeable even in Technicolor films, but it had been a minor effect until the wide-screen movies.
Vista Vision was filmed with a special camera with vertical sprockets which ran the film thru sideways, creating a negative three times the area of the 35 mm print, which was masked and blown-up to widescreen with a projector aperture. The result was incredibly high resolution, sharpness, richness of color, and illusion of depth, even when projected on the largest screens.
The cinematography with this wonderful and expensive process as exhibited in Three Violent people is absolutely breathtaking. It makes this movie a sensuous pleasure to watch. The clarity, color, and added sense of depth that comes through even on a wide-screen digital TV delivers an almost 3-D effect. The effect was just as strong in the indoor lamplight scenes as in the expansive views of the photogenic Arizona landscape (thinly disguised as the Texas Hill Country).
Three Violent People had an intelligent if not inspired script. The dialog likewise was good, though melodramatic at times. Gilbert Roland's excesses of poetry got irritating at times. It fit with his colorful character, but could have been toned down a bit. Rudolph Mate's direction was surprisingly slow-paced, especially from one who had turned out a classic thriller like DOA. It was slow-moving in the first half, but not boring because of the strong acting and solid story development. But it really picked up after Heston discovered his wife was a shady lady, and she and his brother absconded with his valuable herd of horses. There was more melodrama than action in this one, but the action was well-staged. The runaway wagon in a stampede of horses is a western cliché, but it was much better than average executed here. Also very good was the climactic shootout with the Texas ranchers using volleys from single-shot rifles to send the Yankee baddies into headlong retreat. The sets, both inside and outside were very authentic looking. Likewise, the clothes, the rifles, revolvers, and gun leather were all unusually accurate to the late 1860's era.
Overall Three Violent People was a satisfying western on every level, but most of all was simply a pleasure to watch because of the stunning Vista Vision cinematography.
(Other Vista Vision Westerns: The Searchers, Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, One-Eyed Jacks)